Theresa May's campaign accused of using Government whips to strong arm Tory MPs to vote for her to be Conservative leader

Theresa May has been accused of using the Government machine to strong arm Conservative MPs into voting for to become Prime Minister.

The Home Secretary will set out her case to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister and Tory leader in a major speech on Thursday morning.

She is expected to say that she is the leader for “difficult times” as Britain prepares to leave the European Union when she unveils her leadership challenge tomorrow.

An ally of Mrs May said: "Her pitch will be about stability and competence. These are difficult times, we need someone who can cope with difficult times. She will make a positive push, it will range beyond home affairs and talk about her values.

"She will highlight the need for opportunity and life chances. The Conservative Party needs to deliver for the whole of society, not just the prosperous."

Theresa MayCredit:
Stefan Rousseau/ Stefan Rousseau

It comes as a new poll of more than 1,300 readers of the Conservativehome website put Mrs May narrowly ahead of her arch rival Boris Johnson by 29 per cent to 28 per cent.

The news came as Tory MPs complained about an apparently coordinated drive by Government whips to get Mrs May installed as party leader.

One Conservative MP said he had been collared by his whip earlier this week while he was voting to ask if he was voting for Mrs May.

He said: “In breach of Conservative party rules they are ringing around the new intake saying ‘you must vote for this candidate’.

“It is clear that the whole of the establishment is backing Theresa May – she is the continuity Cameron cronies candidate.”

Concerns about an officially sanctioned “stop Boris” plot have been raised because Gavin Williamson, Mr Cameron’s Parliamentary Private Seceretary, has been actively campaigning for Mrs May.

Nadhim Zahawi MP, who is backing Mr Johnson, told The Daily Telegraph: “I have no problem with whips campaigning for any candidate but it would be completely wrong and an abuse of process to do that while they are holding the position of whips.”

Graham BradyCredit:
Cathal McNaughton/Cathal McNaughton

Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tories, said he had submitted a formal complaint to Mark Harper, the chief whip, about their activity.

He said: “I have received complaints about whips apparently involved in campaigning and I have raised the matter with the chip whip.”

Westminster sources said that five Government whips – Mel Stride, Simon Kirby, Guy Opperman, Gavin Barwell and Julian Smith – had attended a meeting of Remain MPs on Monday.

Mr Harper could be challenged at bout the row at a meeting of the party’s MPs this evening to rubber stamp the leadership rules.

The chief whip will attend the mass meeting of MPs to sign off the party’s leadership rules, which were approved with one change by the party’s board.

According to the Conservativehome poll, it is “neck and neck” between Mrs May and Mr Johnson to succeed Mr Cameron.

To cheers, he is understood to have told the meeting: “We have not come so far, only to elect a Leader who did not campaign to leave the EU.”

Mrs May kept a low profile during the campaign, and is likely to pitch herself as a unifying force between the anti- and pro-EU wings of the party.

She made only a handful of interventions notably a speech in which she declared herself a reluctant support of the Remain campaign.

Sir Alan Duncan, the respected former Tory minister who flirted with the Vote Leave campaign before coming out for Remain, has said it was wrong to assume the new leader had to be a supporter of Brexit.

He said: “If you just look through the lens of this referendum that is behind us, that will actually narrow the way in which we look at ourselves.

“What we need is unity, stability, credibility and competence. Someone has got to be good on domestic and foreign policy and be able to stand on the domestic stage with dignity and effectiveness.”

Separately, the Conservative party leadership election has been extended by a week to avoid clashing with the G20 meeting of world leaders September.

The extension will also give more time to Tory party activists to grill the candidates at hustings in the race to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister.

The Conservative party board agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to extend the date when the winner is announced from September 2 to September 9.

The meeting also decided to cap the amount that each of the candidates can spend on their campaign at £135,000 each.

Sources said the decision to move the announcement from September 2 was to avoid requiring the new Prime Minister to attend immediately in Hangzhou, China two days later on September 4.

This will mean that Mr Cameron will represent the UK at the G20 in what will be one of his final appearances as British Prime Minister.

Nominations are due to open at 6pm today, [weds] after the leadership rules are signed off at a mass meeting of Tory MPs at 5pm, and then close at midday tomorrow. [thurs]

Voting will then take place on alternate Tuesday and Thursdays for the next few weeks to whittle down the list of candidates to just two, whose names will go forward to the Conservative party’s members.

The news came as former defence secretary Liam Fox could emerge as kingmaker in the Conservative leadership campaign after it emerged that more than 30 Tory MPs could support his campaign.

Dr Fox is understood to be seriously considering running for the leadership, a decade after he stood against David Cameron.

Nominations for the leadership are due to open on Wednesday and close at midday on Thursday.